Ever since 1978 I have taken pictures while doing research, but I am not a photographer. All the pictures in this exhibition have been taken in totally natural environment, without any changes in location of objects or persons, never having the time to adjust any details for photographic purposes. This small exhibition is a very small part of my collection, concentrating on one topic with pictures from the Mamassani and Bakhtiyari Lor areas, from Baluchistan, Gilan, Kordestan, Bandar Lengeh and Tehran. There are similarities uniting various areas of the country, while there are never two weddings which are totally the same. Repetitions show belonging to the same culture area.

Few Points of Clarification:

At certain specific points of the ceremony, the families of the bride and the groom are together. Such moments are marked with great celebrity.

Hands symbolize exchange of goods.

The ceremony of henna is a beautification besides an exchange and anticipation of later events. It may happen around the bride and the groom in separate houses.

Preparing great amount of food makes people share in celebration and show support for the families involved.

Music gives the atmosphere for passing some joyful hours.

Dancing which is the height of expression of joy is also a responsibility and an expression of the great support for either side of the family.

The objects which are laid in front of the bride and the groom for the formal ceremony are all symbolic and meaningful.

The most dramatic point of a ceremony is the separation of the bride from her household and the tears of mother of the bride for her daughter.

Short CV

Soheila Shahshahani is associate professor of anthropology at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, Iran. She is the chief editor of Anthropology of the Middle East (Berghahn publication) and Culture and Human Being (in Persian). She received her doctorate degree from the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York in 1981.

She is Senior Vice-President of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences(IUAES), and was on the editorial board of World Social Science Report of ISSC of Unesco(2010). In 2010 she started Commission on Anthropology of the Middle East within the IUAES. She is author of The Four Seasons of the Sun, an ethnography of women of Oyun, a sedentarized village of the Mamassani pastoral nomads of Iran (1987), A Pictorial history of Iranian headdresses (1995), Meymand, we were one people one territory, an ethnographic study of a grotto-village (2005), guest editor of Nomadic Peoples, Nomads and Nomadism in Post-revolutionary Iran (Vol 7, No.2, 2003) and editor of Body as medium of meaning (2004) and of Cities of Pilgrimage (2009), author of many articles in English and Persian. She has recently finished two books, ready for publication, Clothing of Persia During the Qajar Reign 1779-1925 (in English and Persian), and Anthropological Theories regarding Ethnic Groups (in Persian).

Overview and HistoryTehran is the capital of Iran and the largest city in the Middle East, with a population of fifteen million people living under the peaks of the Alborz mountain range.Although archaeological evidence places human activity around Tehran back into the years 6000BC, the city was not mentioned in any writings until much later, in the thirteenth century. It's a relatively new city by Iranian standards.But Tehran was a well-known village in the ninth century. It grew rapidly when its neighboring city, Rhages, was destroyed by Mongolian raiders. Many people fled to Tehran.In the seventeenth century Tehran became home to the rulers of the Safavid Dynasty. This is the period when the wall around the city was first constructed. Tehran became the capital of Iran in 1795 and amazingly fast growth followed over the next two hundred years.The recent history of Tehran saw construction of apartment complexes and wide avenues in place of the old Persian gardens, to the detriment of the city's cultural history.The city at present is laid out in two general parts. Northern Tehran is more cosmopolitan and expensive, southern Tehran is cheaper and gets the name "downtown."Getting ThereMehrabad airport is the original one which is currently in the process of being replaced by Imam Khomeini International Airport. The new one is farther away from the city but it now receives all the international traffic, so allow an extra hour to get there or back.TransportationTehran driving can be a wild free-for-all like some South American cities, so get ready for shared taxis, confusing bus routes and a brand new shiny metro system to make it all better. To be fair, there is a great highway system here.The metro has four lines, tickets cost 2000IR, and they have segregated cars. The women-only carriages are the last two at the end, FYI.Taxis come in two flavors, shared and private. Private taxis are more expensive but easier to manage for the visiting traveler. Tehran has a mean rush hour starting at seven AM and lasting until 8PM in its evening version. Solution? Motorcycle taxis! They cut through the traffic and any spare nerves you might have left.People and CultureMore than sixty percent of Tehranis were born outside of the city, making it as ethnically and linguistically diverse as the country itself. Tehran is the most secular and liberal city in Iran and as such it attracts students from all over the country.Things to do, RecommendationsTake the metro to the Tehran Bazaar at the stop "Panzda Gordad". There you can find anything and everything -- shoes, clothes, food, gold, machines and more. Just for the sight of it alone you should take a trip there.If you like being outside, go to Darband and drink tea in a traditional setting. Tehranis love a good picnic and there are plenty of parks to enjoy. Try Mellat park on a friday (fridays are public holidays), or maybe Park Daneshjou, Saaii or Jamshidieh.Remember to go upstairs and have a look around, always always always! The Azadi Tower should fit the bill; it was constructed to commemorate the 2500th anniversary of the Persian Empire.Tehran is also full of museums such as:the Contemporary Art Museumthe Abghine Musuem (glass works)the 19th century Golestan Royal Palace museumthe museum of carpets (!!!)Reza Abbasi Museum of extraordinary miniaturesand most stunning of all,the Crown Jewels Museum which holds the largest pink diamond in the world and many other jaw-dropping jewels.Text by Steve Smith.

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